Mainstream non-IGP motherboards with a single PCle slot fit snugly within a budget of Rs 6,000. No doubt IGP motherboards offer good value for money; however non-IGP motherboards are more future¬proof with good headroom for expansion and more powerful chipsets. Let's find out how impressive the Biostar TP35D2-A7 is. FEATURES: As the name suggests, the TP35D2-A7 is based on the Intel P35 chipset featuring the ICH9 South Bridge. Having an FSB speed of 1333 MHz, the chipset supports Intel's latest 45nm 'Penryn' processors. Though the feature set is nothing extraordinary, it's good enough to build a powerful gaming machine when paired with high-end components. The TP32D2-A7 supports up to 8 GB of DDR2-800 memory and boasts 12 USB ports, gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, four SATA ports, a PCle x16 slot and three PCI slots.

Enthusiasts will be amused with the Overclock Navigator Engine which features a range of tweaking options for manual and automatic overclocking. FSB and multiplier settings, voltage tweaks, memory ratio, memory timings, and BIOS settings backup-they're all there! The expansion slots, IDE and SATA ports are of orange and light green colors which gives it a funky look with case lighting.

LAYOUT: The layout of the TP35D2-A7 will disappoint those who are particular about cable management. Firstly, the 24-pin power connector is placed in such a way that the thick bunch of wires will have to traverse around the CPU socket The I DE port, if placed at the right edge of the board could make routing the data cable to the optical/hard drive easier. In this case, the SATA cables will cause hindrance.
The rest of its layout is fine-three USB headers are placed at the base of the board and the area around the CPU socket and heat sink is quite open.

PERFORMANCE: This board performs so wel that it can easily take on some high-end motherboards. Using BIOS tweaks, we were able to overclock a quad-core Intel QX9650 CPU by 1 GHz (FSB 333 x 12) The maximum FSB that we recorded was 470 MHz with the multiplier set to 6. VERDICT: If you're looking out for a motherboard without an onboard GPU, the TP35D2-A7 is worth a buy. The faulty layout of some of the components is forgivable for the stellar performance that this board offers.

FOR: Excellent performance, great value fOI money.
AGAINST: I DE port in the wrong place, South Bridge requires active cooling.